Jackson vs. Whitehurst: Stop Arguing Over Temporary Mediocrity

Charlie Whitehurst is being treated unfairly! He’s being held back, and deserves a chance to start. No, wait…T-Jack is the man! He has been treated unfairly by his past coaches and deserves a chance to start for an extended period of time.

For the love of football, stop. PLEASE! Listening to people plead the case for Tarvaris Jackson or Charlie Whitehurst, and even Josh Portis, is just embarrassing and pointless for all involved. Neither Jackson or Whitehurst have any meaningful future with this franchise. They are both battling for the right to mentor and then back-up the QB of the Future (QBOTF) who the team will draft next season. They are both almost hopelessly mediocre players. Almost, because you can never count anyone out, and both show some modest promise to be serviceable starters.

If the front office had any hope for either player, their contracts would reflect it. Whitehurst is in his final year. Jackson is signed through next year, and even that is not guaranteed. There is no evidence that the team is planning for either of these players to be leading this team when it is ready to challenge for a Super Bowl.

Start Whitehurst. Start Jackson. It just doesn’t matter. At most, we are talking about a difference of perhaps 1 game plus/minus in the win column. If you want to debate which guy gives you that possible 1-game advantage in a clearly limited season, go ahead. You will be missing the things that actually matter about this season, like the development of the offensive line, the wide receivers, the tight ends, the linebackers and the secondary. The quarterback situation matters less than perhaps any other position on the entire roster. Heck, punter Jon Ryan has a better chance of starting for Super Bowl-contending Seahawks team than either Whitehurst or Jackson.

I will continue to evaluate the players across the team, including the quarterbacks, but I’m certainly not going to lose any sleep over who wins the right to play below league average at the position.

ADDENDUM: I forgot to add that asking for Whitehurst to get more reps is batshit crazy. Whoever starts at QB for this team will barely get enough snaps this pre-season given the lockout. Splitting reps would lose the team more games than any possible advantage they would gain by figuring out which of these mediocre quarterbacks is “better.” Pete Carroll is doing the absolute right thing by choosing one guy and sticking with him.

8 Responses

You are worse than those arguing about who should start. At least they care enough about this season, and the most important position in football. Even if it is +/- one win, I want to win that game. That is important for the team and as a fan. You sit here and write a bunch of dribble about chris carter (a 6th string WR with no hope or skill) and how he should make the team, and then dont give a hoot about the QB position? Wow. Stop living for the draft and the expectations of a QBOTF just sitting there waiting for us.

In an ideal world you'd like to have more information on both QBs. A full offseason. An equal amount of in-game starting experience with no variables. But you can't have that. So you have to make the call on what you think will put the team in the best position, which is what Pete did.

So it's not that you shouldn't care, but that the circumstances dictate that Jackson is the starter and that there is no opportunity for an open competition.

And, in the end, it actually doesn't matter anyway, because neither guy is viewed by the organization to be THE guy.

@Anonymous – This has nothing to do with apathy, it has to do with philosophy. My only focus is on the Seahawks winning a Super Bowl. I don't care about making the playoffs or winning the division. I want everything for this franchise and its fans. I just have been around long enough to know Jackson or Whitehurst will have nothing to do with the team getting there.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure I've never written any "dribble." The drivel about Chris Carter is chronicling the experience of one kid on the fringes of the NFL chasing his dream. Taking pot shots at him is classless. I expect better from Seahawks fans.

"PLEASE! Listening to people plead the case for Tarvaris Jackson or Charlie Whitehurst, and even Josh Portis, is just embarrassing and pointless for all involved." — Keep sitting in your tower and telling us how to be fans. I am sorry you are embarrassed that the majority of fans are interested in the outcome of THIS competition and THIS season. Its rather short-sided of you to assume they do not have perspective or ideas about future seasons as well. They are just being fans THIS season, for THIS team.

"I don't care about making the playoffs or winning the division." — That is just unfortunate. What kind of fan says that? So last year meant nothing to you? Because we didnt have our QBOTF and we lost in the playoffs? It didnt fit your armchair GM philosophy so you write it off?

You are making so many assumptions about next years draft. You are the kind of fan that thinks it is worth it to have a terrible/losing season for a supposed "sure thing" in the draft aren't you?

"Taking pot shots at him is classless." — It is classless to call it like it is for a camp body that hasn't stood out in practice or games?

Its strange you are so emotionally attached to our 90 man roster instead of our current starting players/players that are pressing to be on the active 53. Especially since all you care about is the Superbowl.

Anonymous: I find it interesting that you criticize the guy for telling others how to be fans, then in your second paragraph turn around and try to imprint YOUR definition of fanhood onto HIM. You're committing the very thing you criticize.

What I believe is that without a top-flight QB, an NFL team has little-to-no chance of winning it all, and neither of these QBs will develop into a top-flight QB. Whitehurst is nearly 30, and his time to "develop" has long past. Don't take my word for it, take the coaches who have never believed in him enough to insert him as a starter.

Jackson is a cast-off who had little interest from other teams outside of Seattle. He's a unique value for this off-season and this coaching staff, and therefore, makes the most sense for this season. Beyond that? It's impossible to say.

This season matters immensely for a ton of reasons: the developing offensive line, the secondary, the linebackers, the d-line, the receivers. If we happen to win along the way, that's great, but what matters most is progress toward dominant units within the team. Dominance wins, and there is literally no chance either QB will dominate. Pete Carroll has put his lot in with Jackson, and that's logical to me. If he had said it was Whitehurst, I'd have gone along with that as well (albeit more skeptically). My overriding point continues to be that Whitehurst or Jackson are not sufficiently better than one another to warrant this level of debate.

As far as Carter goes, you've simply missed the point entirely. I cheer for him because he's a fantastic person who's trying out for my favorite team, not because I think it matters more than the QB. If you've watched Hard Knocks, you'd know they don't just follow around the big names. They chronicle the bubble guys, the aging vets, and all parts of the great human NFL story. Bashing him in this context of this discussion is irrelevant and uncalled for.

I get your point completely regarding the hysterical comparisons, my concern lies in the idea that a mentor should at least have the mental ability required to be a starting QB. Tarvaris frankly appears to lack that, entirely. Whitehurst is only barely better upstairs and doesn't have the tools to survive the "gelling" period of the O-Line… sounds like fun.

I'd rather watch Whitehurst, but I am hoping against hope that I am way wrong and one of these guys can be at least Kitna good while we find the guy to get us to the Super Bowl.

Oh and btw… don't respond to "Anonymous" how hard is it to register an account… its not like any of us are using our real names…